


When The Cold Wind Blows

by Ben_Swolos_Right_Peck



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Child Abuse, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ilum (Star Wars), Mild Hurt/Comfort, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26487955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ben_Swolos_Right_Peck/pseuds/Ben_Swolos_Right_Peck
Summary: The Mandalorian takes a job on Ilum clearing out a cave for a Imperial remnant camp. Little does he know he will be taking on more than he had expected.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 60





	When The Cold Wind Blows

**Author's Note:**

> The brief child abuse that is written is a smack to the face for this chapter. The next chapter will show some abuse as well, but nothing beyond rough handling, and a child being put in a dangerous situation. After that there will be no abuse unless it's implied from Hux's past.

The crunch of his boots under the snow wasn't the loudest thing about the planet, the high winds, swaying trees and the occasional crack of ice on the surface competed for the title of loudest sound. But, in this moment, Mando made his way towards the encampment hidden in the trees in the distance. He didn't trust the men he was meeting, Imperial remnants, a group of fanatics once lost to the outer rim. Well, they weren't lost anymore, their camp a testimate to the vile toxicity that was their type and how it festered deeper than anyone could have imagined.   
  
He had left the child back in the ship, knowing what little good that might do with how inquisitive it could be, but he hoped the cold whether and the numerous locks he had installed on the exit would deter the little thing.   
  
Two assault troopers stepped out from behind the heat blankets that were being used as refuge, multiple blankets being tacked up to trees in order to create their "camp".   
  
"Halt!" One of the storm troopers lifted their blaster, the other standing stoickly in the cold. "State your business." The trooper held his place, the blankets whipping lightly behind him in the chill wind.   
  


Mando sighed lightly, not enough to be picked up on his helmets covoder. "I'm here to meet Hux.." His deep voice carried well over the sound around them. He didn't give much more than that, not having the time, or the patience to explain himself. The two troopers turned their heads, looking at each other for a few moments. The one not holding the blaster nodded lightly, turning and making their way into the blanketed encampment.   
  
They waited there for a few minutes, the trooper and Mandalorian not moving an inch with what could be considered eye contact held steadily. The other trooper walked back out. "Go inside. The commandant is waiting." He took his place again next to the entrance, the first trooper moving aside to make way, not putting down his blaster.   
  
Mando wanted to chuckle, but he just moved forward about to reach for the curtain before a hand came to hold him. "Weapons...hand em over." The second trooper commanded, keeping his hand where it was. Mando sighed audibly this time, but he took one step back and reached for his rifle, holding it out to the trooper. "Don't take your eye out. It wont be fun."   
  
With that, he turned back towards the opening, pushing the curtain aside to step into the much warmer, enclosed environment. Inside the, what he wanted to call blanket fort, was a pitiful set up of tracking equipment, rations, sleeping cots and officers barely out of diapers. They all looked over at him, their eyes hard, skin pale and set in from a life of hardship. He felt a twang of pity settle over him, knowing these were the young children of the Imperial Army, those who had no choice but to bare the weight and responsibility of those who had come before them.   
  
He pushed the thought from his mind, moving onward through the mess of forgotten power struggles and into the next "room", if you could call it that. It was much warmer in this part of the camp, heaters and heavier blankets set up in what looked like the area for the older members of their ragtag team. At a makeshift desk in the back sat an middleaged red haired man, rounding in the middle, gray beginning to sweep the sides over his ears. Mando stepped forward, coming to stop in front of the desk. "Hux." He spoke, choosing not to call the man by his title.   
  
The older man looked up from his papers, the outdated form of transcript being the best use of their energies as to save it for heating and survival. "Commandant Hux. I assume you are the mercenary I sent for trough the guild?" Mando made to reply, but he was cut off. "Good." The commandant sat back in his chair, eyeing Mando up with his eyes. "There is a cave...temple or whatever of some-sort and we need you to clear it out."   
  
Mando cocked and eyebrow, his head turning to the side ever so slightly. "You need me to clear out...what exactly from this cave....temple."   
  
The commandant huffed, looking over to the side of the tented room towards someone. "Armitage...get over here." A young boy stood from where he had been crouched, eyes widening for a moment before he made his way over to the commandants desk, standing just to the side of it. He had the same bright mop of fiery red hair, though his was a bit deeper in intensity than the other mans. He wore a dark set of warm clothes, too young to be a soldier, but old enough to know what was going on. He was skinny, much skinnier than a boy his age should have been, though the environment he was living in didn't make that a surprise.   
  
"Yes father..." The boy, Armitage spoke with a forced strength, his hands curled into tight fists behind his back as he mimicked a soldiers stance. Mando could see the resemblance, though the boy did have obvious differences compared to the older commandant. "Get me caff, make sure it stays hot this time." The older man grumbled, looking back towards the Mandalorian.   
  
  
Mando watched the boy walk off quickly, disappearing into another part of the tent encampment. "Now. You asked what was in the cave. Well, we aren't exactly sure, but we have lost fifteen troopers to whatever lay inside there. I'm not willing to loose anymore as they are in short supply obviously, and the children aren't skilled enough to fight." Mando's lips curled slightly, the thought of sending those children he had seen in the first room into battle made his blood curdle, but he kept silent. "Well...that's risky, if you don't even know what's in there how am I supposed to prepare?"   
  
The commandant let out a deep laugh, his blue eyes narrowing towards Mando. "Really? I thought you Mandalorians- that is what you are aren't you? Were supposed to be able to take up anything?" He laughed again, sighing as he turned his head to look back at the boy walking back up to him. "Good, took you long enough last time that it got- Ah!!"   
  
The boy had come back, holding the caff in his hands, the cup wafting with hot steam as he made his way through the tightly packed room of materials. When he had gotten close to the desk, his foot caught under a wire across the ground, his body flinging forward and sending the caff flying across the room. The commandant got splashed, though it wasn't much, mostly the hot liquid slid down the side of the desk, stippled across the papers over top and into the heat blankets below.   
  
"You idiot!" The commandant yelled out, pushing back from the desk and quickly reaching down to grab the boy up by the upper arm. Mando's hand reached to the side in a small move for his gun, but he remembered he had left it back with the trooper, now not having a way to defend himself against the nest of Imperial officers that the camp contained. He grit his teeth, watching silently as the boy in front of him was tugged up from the ground.   
  
"You piece of shit! Do you ever think about what your doing before you do it!?" Armitage's eyes were wide, his arm held up in his father's hand tightly, uncomfortably lifted to his toes as the older man's face got close to his. "You never learn. You never think! Now look at this!" The commandants other hand gestered back at the desk, the ruined paperwork and the spilled caff. Mando had to clench his fists at his side, the sounding smack that sounded through the camp was loud enough to make heads turn, the other younger officers looking on with a blank stare of hidden fear and the older ones smirking at the sight.   
  
The giant red mark across the boy's face was evident, his red hair hanging over his eyes as he hung his head in shame. "i..i'm s-sorry father i-" The commandant shook the boy once, growling as he pushed him back, the boy stumbling and falling to his rear. "I don't care how sorry you are. Fix it." He looked down on the boy with a sneer, turning back to the desk and sitting back in the chair. "And fetch another caff." After a few moments, the commandant looked back up at Mando, a calmer look coming over him.   
  
"As I was saying. I don't think you will have any difficulties with whatever is down there. We have enough to pay you for the job well done if you come back." He reached into the desk and pulled out a pack of white smoking sticks, taking one and putting it in his mouth without lighting. "Now. I have work to do." He pushed forward a chip. "this is a quarter payment and the coordinates to the cave, I will have two of my troopers escort you and make sure the job gets done. They will be ready to go at 0600 tomorrow morning."   
  
Mando took a deep breath, his jaw clenched tightly as he looked to where the young boy was currently mopping up the spilled caff with a small rag, then back to the commandant without even moving his head. "Got it." He spoke in a clipped tone, turning and making his way back through the encampment. 

His blood was boiling, fists clenched as he pushed out of the tent's entrance and back into the cold snow and wind, turning to the trooper that held his rifle. "I'll be back." He held his hand out, the trooper jumping slightly as they had been fiddling with the rifle. The trooper stood straight, holding out the rifle towards Mando without a word and the two of them went back inside after handing it over, the entrance being zipped up to keep any creeping cold from getting inside.   
  
Mando stood there for a few moments, holding his rifle in thought as he contemplated his next move. He was angry, not only at the fact that the job had been requested by such a group and he had allowed himself to take the job, but the sight he had just seen. He needed the money, the times hadn't been easy on himself or the child he now cared for and the job was the only one he had been able to get in over a few cycles.   
  
He began his trek back to the ship, getting inside the warmth and settling in before he checked in on the child. He looked in to where he had left the child sleeping, the small creature staring up at him with wide eyes, head cocked to the side slightly.  
  
"Don't look at me like that....." He sighed. "We need the job. How else am I supposed to feed you?" Mando crossed his arms. "...I can't leave him here, I...I don't think I can walk away from that." His voice was pained, the sight of the boy in the tent replaying over and over in his mind. "...I'll do the job, get the credits and take the boy. There...I can take him back to the guild and they can find him a placement..."   
  
Mando nodded, more so to himself as he solidified his own plan. "Alright...go to sleep. Hopefully I can get this over with quickly." He reached down and patted the young child's head, the baby making a cooing noise in return. He closed the door before making his way into the cockpit of his ship, sitting down heavily in the chair as he kicked his feet up onto the console. Mando knew he was soft, softer than most over the idea of children, and taking on the young child he currently had didn't help with that fact either. "Damnit..." He mumbled to himself before he pushed his seat back at an incline and let himself fall into a restless sleep. 


End file.
